Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 148 005 Sending my sister to the girls’ school in Smolny Palace

Solovyov didn't know about the personnel transfer yet, but he always felt uneasy when he saw the actions of some senior officers of the Guards in the palace.

It's just that he doesn't have the mind to care about it now. Today he has to complete one thing and send Yulia to the Smolny Palace Noble Girls' School.

The name of this girls' school in the Queen's time was the "Imperial Noble Girls' Educational Association". The Smolny Girls' School is now under the jurisdiction of Queen Maria and is mainly a closed school for girls of the nobility and bourgeoisie. education.

There may be more girls sent to school by their parents, but it is not very common for them to be sent to school by their brothers.

The dean, Mrs. Elisabeth Alexandrovna Parmenbach, received them in the office. The lady also felt a little funny after seeing the siblings.

"Mr. Major, you look very young, and you are still wearing the uniform of the Guards."

"Yes, madam, I am here to send my sister Yulia to enroll here."

"Why do you want to enroll at this time?"

"Well, it was a letter written by my father's friend, suggesting that we send all the girls in the family to a girls' school."

The lady looked at the brother and sister. The major himself had two medals hanging on his chest. He was very young, but had made meritorious service on the battlefield, or was particularly favored by nobles in the palace.

He had both. Although the dean herself was not a snob, she always wanted to know the family background of the girls entering school.

This is a rule that has been established during the time of the old dean Madame de Lafont, who has died many years ago. It is a normal process, and the snobbery of the Russian aristocracy is still relatively rare among these educators—— On the other hand, another type called "Belikov" is more common, but that is in boys' schools.

The Petersburg girls' schools under the rule of Queen Maria were all boarding schools, and their purpose was still to educate women. Smolny Palace College enrolled publicly funded students and self-funded students, while the Catherine Order College mainly enrolled students without personal property. noble girls, including some girls from poor families.

The former has its own plot, but the plot of the Smolny Palace will also be rebuilt, while the latter is still opposite the Tafrid Palace.

"Mr. Major, I think you also need to declare your family background and explain your place of origin. I am the dean, and I have to fulfill my responsibilities for the new students. I think as an elder brother, you should also know Yulia very well. education status.”

"There is no problem with this background check. Madam, you can start asking."

"Okay, Mr. Major. First of all, the first question is, are both Yulia's parents alive?"

"Our father, Baron Sergey Solovyov, is still alive, and our mother has passed away, but we have a stepmother at home. She is French and she used to educate Yulia at home."

The lady quickly wrote it down and was preparing to ask the next questions.

"Your father is still alive, so we will skip the second question. Mr. Major, you are Yulia's brother and an active soldier. What I want to ask about is your father, Baron Sergei. Are you currently on active duty?”

"My father is a retired major. He used to be Lieutenant General Grusecki's adjutant. He retired because he was wounded in the battle against the Turks in the south. He received a medal from Her Majesty the Queen. Do you need to ask me about my situation?"

"Not yet, Mr. Major, you are very smart, I can see that."

"Madam, if you don't be smart, you won't be able to handle things well."

"Yes, Mr. Major, your family's income situation, but I am not the tax department here, so you don't need to write down all your family assets."

Solovyov filled in the information based on the income of his hometown farm, and wrote down the information of family members and even his deceased mother.

"Mr. Major, according to your family's situation, you actually have two options. Your father is a hereditary noble and a retired soldier. According to this standard, Miss Yulia should enroll as a self-funded student. But since you are an active soldier, It’s the Guards again, and students should be admitted at public expense. Of course, the tuition fee is not high. It’s different from the Catherine Medal Academy run by Her Royal Highness the Queen, which is completely funded by the public.”

There is not much difference in the quality of education. They both focus on all-round development. At Smolny Academy, you have more opportunities to go to the palace.

Many palace maids came from here, and some of them will become the "confidant" of His Majesty the Tsar himself, not necessarily his mistress, but the girls' school itself has very high requirements.

"I think we should follow the rules. The girls in my family may send a lot of gifts in the future. You know, when I filled in the family members, I mentioned that my stepmother also gave birth to a younger sister, and she was pregnant again. All the relatives in our family are boys, but mine is the only one with more girls.”

"We will welcome all girls of school age to the school. Even girls from civilian families will receive a good education here. And you, Mr. Major, if you have a wife in the future, as long as you are still stationed in Petersburg, you will also We welcome your children here."

"Thank you, madam. But it is unlikely that I will get married any time soon. You will see how young I am and what my current position is when you look at the form."

"I know very well, Mr. Major, that you are by His Majesty's side, and you are a very outstanding young talent. I think your family must have provided Miss Solovyova with the best education."

"Although my family attaches great importance to it, the situation is different. I joined the army at a young age. I was able to learn more when I served as an adjutant beside the general, and I was inspired by the generalissimo Prince Suvorov. However, a lot of my knowledge is self-taught. ”

He thought about the cultural level of his stepmother, which meant that she could speak French very well, but she also mixed in a lot of Creole and West Indian dialects. Although her spelling errors were much fewer than those of her cousin, she still had fewer spelling errors than her cousin. Not very good, she just let the smart and lively Yulia master the communication skills, but the written content

"Well, even if they are biological brothers and sisters, sometimes their education levels are very different. Even our old dean had discovered the problem when she was educating her daughter."

Mrs. Palmenbach had to lament that the great translator's sister had quite a few grammatical and spelling errors, but she spoke fluently, with a bit of a Nantes accent, and she always spoke with some dialect.

"What's going on?"

"The current Baroness, our stepmother Amy Solovyova, her place of birth is clearly stated as the West Indies, and her relatives are all from there, in Martinique and Guade Rupp, it’s not surprising that she speaks in a dialect. Moreover, she was educated in Nantes and was kidnapped by the Barbary pirates. She is a bit poor in her studies, but you can really understand her speech. That’s about it.”

"Actually, this is good. At least the missed courses will not be so difficult to take up. At least it is much better than some girls from noble families who have to take up lessons from scratch. But you also have to get rid of some bad habits."

"At the same time, madam, you don't need to worry about Yulia's music, dance and gymnastics classes. She is very talented in this area."

"I can tell that Miss Solovyova is very energetic. Such a lively girl is actually our favorite kind, as long as she doesn't look like the troublemaker I took care of before."

Solovyov did not know that when this lady came to help in the palace, the curriculum of the Smolny Girls' School was still divided into four stages. In the first stage of the course, she had been taught by De La Font As entrusted by my wife, I went into the palace to teach the four highnesses.

This was a bad memory. After all, it was difficult to find a lively and naughty girl like Her Highness Ekaterina. It took her a lot of effort to change Her Highness's bad habits.

In other words, what Solovyov saw was that the lively and active His Highness was at least no longer a "troublemaker".

The next test was for the madam to take Yulia inside to examine the body of the girl entering school, and she also had to change clothes and undergo a physical examination.

When she came out, Mrs. Palmenbach came out with Yulia who had changed into a dark blue girls' school uniform.

"Mr. Major, your sister passed all the entrance tests and became a student of the Smolny Palace Academy for Noble Girls. You can rest assured that we will strictly carry out education. Family members can come to visit if necessary. You can also take it home, and holiday notices will be sent to your home. If you have any questions, you can contact me at any time.”

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Good Miss Solovyova, you can say goodbye to your brother. I want to take you to meet your grade teacher, as well as your classmates and sisters."

Yulia's personality is very similar to that of her elder brother. She is deeper and has quite a lot of strength. This girl is about to start a nine-year study, but she needs to make up for some of the missing courses.

"Brother, I will definitely work hard and not lose to Katyusha!"

She also did not forget to kiss her brother on the cheek, while Solovyov gave his sister a hug.

"If you feel homesick, you can mention it to the ladies in charge of teaching, and we will come and see you."

"Goodbye, brother!"

Yulia was taken to school and met dozens of girls in the same grade. If she could grow up healthily and complete her studies on time, she would have graduated in 1809. At that time, her good sister and pen pal Yekatie Princess Lena Dolgorukova is also coming back.

After she introduced herself, all the 92 little girls in the grade were curious about the transfer students. After all, Yulia was different from her brother. She always looked a little taller than girls of the same age, and she walked Fast, healthy, and rosy.

"We are also here to welcome Miss Solovyova. As classmates and sisters, you must also help each other."

As for which girl to live with, there are also arrangements.

"Yulia, you have to live with Sister Komnenos and Miss Lazareva. You have to help each other and know how to share your common happiness. In addition, don't violate discipline. The management of the dormitory lady is Very strict.”

As for the lively Yulia, she still doesn't know how terrifying the dormitory's fighting power is.

For a grade, the teachers and management staff include the inspector, housemaster, two teachers and the head teacher. Generally, these students will be divided into multiple classes.

The teaching content includes training in Russian literature, geography, arithmetic, history, music, dance, painting, social etiquette and various home economics, as well as foreign languages, but generally no English. At the same time, moral education is also emphasized.

Yulia still felt strange when she left home for the first time, but she and the three little girls soon became good friends.

"Yulia, how did you get to school?"

"My brother sent me here. He is a major in the Guards. Come and see. This is his portrait."

"What a handsome big brother!"

The older of the two sisters exclaimed, and then she also stretched out her hand: "I am Anna Komnena, and this is my sister Ekaterina. The one who is playing with the ship model over there is Vera Lazareva. Her two brothers are students at the Naval Academy."

"Hello, Yulia, I think we can get to know each other." Vera also put down the sailboat model in her hand. It seemed to be a souvenir given to her by her brothers. I heard that Yulia was also sent by her brother. She thought of her father's death. When she came to the girls' school, it was her 13-year-old eldest brother Andrei and 12-year-old second brother Mikhail who accompanied her. She began to cry when she was moved by the scene.

After the four girls got to know each other, they found out that the father of the Komnenos sisters was a descendant of the Dalmatian branch of the Komnenos dynasty who came to Russia from Austria to serve, and their mother was a local noble in Moldavia. Lazareva's father was a senator when he was alive. Her family sent the children to the Naval Academy and the Girls' School respectively according to her father's will.

But her second brother would become an admiral in the future and would have a long and successful career as an admiral, which was not something the girls could know from their chatter.

"What about your family?"

"Dad is a retired major. He does business in St. Petersburg. We are from Ryazan. Amy's mother is French. My mother has passed away a long time ago. And you have all seen my brother. He is an inventor and translator, and also a brave soldier. If I were a boy, I would be like him. Unfortunately, I am a girl, so I can only go to a girls' school."

"Yulia, I can't believe that you are the same age as me, but you have grown so tall."

"But my brother was not tall. When I saw him leading his soldiers on Million Street, he was much shorter than his soldiers."

"Short generals can also be very brave, like the Grand Marshal Prince Suvorov. That old grandfather is very powerful, but unfortunately he passed away last year."

The four girls sighed together and started chatting again, but the latter part was about what girls like, and there was also a storytelling session. The atmosphere was relaxed and full of a happy air.